George
Posts: 316
Joined: Feb. 2006
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| Quote (midwifetoad @ Sep. 11 2012,18:46) | Every technology seems to have its enemies. Wind turbines are ugly and kill birds. Everyone wants them but not nearby.
Personally I'm interested in thorium. China seems to be going in that direction. I assume we'll be buying their reactors in ten years.
My point is that opposition to solutions comes from so many directions. I don't think it coincides with the antievolution crowd. |
The psych research didn't find correlations between opposition to alternative energy solutions and anti-science attitudes, it was about correlations between climate change denialism in the first place and anti-science. Opposition to different solutions does come from different directions, but opposition to the idea that there's a problem in the first place seems to be closely associated with the anti-evolution and conspiracy theorist crowd.
As to wind turbines, they do kill some birds (and bats), but so do living room windows. Where it becomes ecologically significant is where wind farms are sited along migratory paths or where there are populations of rare raptors. There is also the scarecrow effect of turbines frightening away birds from an area, but this depends on the species involved as some become more acclimatised to others. A good EIA system and a good planning framework should (!) sort this out. Visual impact issues are certainly an issue, and many people are vehemently opposed to them. Personally I like the look of wind farms in the right places, but as I earn part of my living from wind farm EIAs, I might be biased.
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